Genre Fiction Writing: Dragons, Aliens, Ghosts-So What?

Do you have an idea for a sweeping fantasy but don’t know where to start? Or an idea for a tense, spine tingling horror but don’t know how to create that suspense on the page? In this class, we’ll approach genre writing by starting with the most important element: a compelling protagonist. Too often, the intricate magic system or impressive scary monster is where all our writing efforts go, but a story is only interesting if the reader is invested in who it is happening to. Questions we’ll consider: Why is your protagonist the right lead for this story? What does your protagonist have to lose? What does the antagonist make the protagonist face about themselves? Generative writing prompts will be used to help us figure out who our characters are, what they want, and why it matters if they succeed (or fail!) We will then develop our fantastical/sci-fi/horror world…